Action combat with no animation lock
Shared open world areas that can be soloed
Instanced 5 man dungeons
Tieflings, Drow, Half Elves, Elves, Humans, dwarves
Foundry player created content tools
Wizard, warrior and thief with tree branches to specialize into other areas (shadow thief, control wizard, etc.)
Due out by the end of this year

GW2 may have a worthy challenger and TERA probably has another nail or 2 in its coffin...

NWN was multiplayer and it basically said 'f*ck balance'. It let you make any combination you wanted. Some were totally crap while others were super OP. I suspect though they're worried about balance in this game because it has pvp which caught me by surprise

I know, right? You think, "It's Neverwinter. Why do people want to kill other people?" But it seems to be an expected feature in MMOs. PvPers ("Killers" in Bartle's original parlance) are a small but exceptionally noisy part of the playerbase, and have become the tail that wags the dog in WoW and other MMOs.

I have concerns about this too. Especially when you start talking about which is the pvp spec for your devout cleric? (or other class)

Or it will be that there are only trickster rogues of a couple varieties in pvp and queue the "how come no one heals in pvp" complaints.

And the list goes on. This has all happened before like where you can create an impervious guardian fighter that is near impossible to kill but can't kill anything as the spec is only able to poke foes with toothpicks. (shield, hearth, shield, hearth)

With NWN you did have arguments, but they were based on different D&D rules that allowed you to do what you wanted. Was part of the fun, but the game didnt prevent you from making something that would be considered underpowered or as my friends enjoyed buiding the best combo within the group. The toons were crap on their own and couldnt get out of the first zone alive but when we were together we could roll through the game. That was what made the game fun for us, and was hoping something closer to that with the new one being MMO oriented. Instead they're doing what seems to be a cash grab. Which is sad because the mechanics that are in place and the game world seems top notch.

I'm having trouble figuring out what this is supposed to play like. Is this DDO with updated graphics or...?

No - DDO is way deeper IMO... Trying to stay open minded about Neverwinter, but so far it looks/reads like it just WoW 4.0 or GW 3.0. I could be wrong - mostly I want to like this game because I am such a DnD geek...

I'm having trouble figuring out what this is supposed to play like. Is this DDO with updated graphics or...?

No - DDO is way deeper IMO... Trying to stay open minded about Neverwinter, but so far it looks/reads like it just WoW 4.0 or GW 3.0. I could be wrong - mostly I want to like this game because I am such a DnD geek...

i see it the other way around... i see it on par with DDO. Biggest difference being the setting. At least the starting area. I've only done the first 10 levels. It may open up beyond that.

I'm late to the conversation, but I agree with Ranalin. I see this game as being very similar to DDO in a lot of respects. The big difference besides setting is that Neverwinter is based on the massively-overhauled 4th edition rules, which are controversial and inconsequential to the discussion of how good Neverwinter will be. Cryptic did a good job with the grahpical homage to the D&D books, which has a lot in common with DDO as well. They've been taking pains to include physics in the game that most MMOs don't have (proper traps, for example), which DDO has done as well. The combat is even similar to DDO, which was all real-time. As I said, the big difference is the 4th edition ruleset, which totally changed the way D&D is played on a fundamental level.

Also: Tieflings > Warforged. 'Nuff said.

“Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply.”
- Steven Covey

That dungeon preview looks solid. I wonder if the DDO crew will migrate over to Neverwinter.

I am keeping my eye on this, but I do not see myself dropping money on it as a preorder. F2P means I am going to play it but I am not sure if there is enough there to pull me away from DDO for the long term.

The Graphics, UI and combat all seem superb. It feels fast paced and there is something to be said for not having 80 hot bars cluttering your screen in an action style game.

DDO on the other hand offers a lot more depth in character creation. I can make a Wizard/Rogue that can CC, disable traps, swing a falcion and hold my own in melee. I can make a Monk/Druid/Fighter that can DPS with a long bow, heal and support a party. DDO allows you to to be as focused or as multifaceted as you want. Half the fun is designing a character to fit your own playstyle and may not follow your standard party "rolls". Its not uncommon to join a group be told my character is gimp for being different and then leading the kill count while providing some healing support to the party. Yes you can make completely broken characters in DDO that have an incredibly hard time making any progress in the game. It can also be unforgiving in its level of challenge. Try an at level elite "Prof is in the Poison" or "The Pit". I know experienced vets who have trouble running those on twinked characters that have reincarnated multiple times. DDO has limited resources when it comes to abilities and spells. You can not just heal and get your spell points back between fights you need to ration and use abilities sparingly and that is part of the fun.

Its level of freedom for character creation and its challenge level are what set apart DDO from other MMOs for me.

I can see Neverwinter offering soother gameplay and combat than DDO. Neverwiter has a Better UI and an overall experience that is much more accessible to new players. The level of challenge can go either way, but I think DDO might win out on that because of a limited resource system. The big question for is, in the long run is that enough to over come the level depth DDO offers?

Either way I hope Neverwinter is a good game and even if I end up only play for a few months I still looks like it will be fun.

That dungeon preview looks solid. I wonder if the DDO crew will migrate over to Neverwinter.

I am keeping my eye on this, but I do not see myself dropping money on it as a preorder. F2P means I am going to play it but I am not sure if there is enough there to pull me away from DDO for the long term.

The Graphics, UI and combat all seem superb. It feels fast paced and there is something to be said for not having 80 hot bars cluttering your screen in an action style game.

DDO on the other hand offers a lot more depth in character creation. I can make a Wizard/Rogue that can CC, disable traps, swing a falcion and hold my own in melee. I can make a Monk/Druid/Fighter that can DPS with a long bow, heal and support a party. DDO allows you to to be as focused or as multifaceted as you want. Half the fun is designing a character to fit your own playstyle and may not follow your standard party "rolls". Its not uncommon to join a group be told my character is gimp for being different and then leading the kill count while providing some healing support to the party. Yes you can make completely broken characters in DDO that have an incredibly hard time making any progress in the game. It can also be unforgiving in its level of challenge. Try an at level elite "Prof is in the Poison" or "The Pit". I know experienced vets who have trouble running those on twinked characters that have reincarnated multiple times. DDO has limited resources when it comes to abilities and spells. You can not just heal and get your spell points back between fights you need to ration and use abilities sparingly and that is part of the fun.

Its level of freedom for character creation and its challenge level are what set apart DDO from other MMOs for me.

I can see Neverwinter offering soother gameplay and combat than DDO. Neverwiter has a Better UI and an overall experience that is much more accessible to new players. The level of challenge can go either way, but I think DDO might win out on that because of a limited resource system. The big question for is, in the long run is that enough to over come the level depth DDO offers?

Either way I hope Neverwinter is a good game and even if I end up only play for a few months I still looks like it will be fun.

A lot of that though is due to the differences of the 4.0 ruleset. I do agree about the character creation. I've already been bitching about that. Quite a disappointment.

Nope, however, maybe more accurate of "Pay to win faster" the fact that two of the founder's packs include "astral diamonds", my guess is that you will need "astral diamonds" in order to buy items/upgrades/classes, possibly even entrance into different dungeons like DDO does for their Free to Play, or premium status where you get faster experience/level ups like World of Tanks.

They've said you can obtain anything in the game by just playing, but you're right it's more like "pay to win faster".

Just what' the hell's an Astral Diamond?
A type of currency used in-game to purchase gear and to bid in the auction house, Astral Diamonds 'are what we've dubbed a "time currency" (similar to Dilithium in Star Trek Online or Questionite in Champions Online). Typically, a player can earn Astral Diamonds by doing certain types of quests and missions. And, usually, this content is time limited so a player can only repeat this type of gameplay so often. In our Starter Packs, we provide players a treasure chest full of Astral Diamonds so their own epic tales can begin at a sprint.

But... Wait!?! Isn''t that pay-to-win! I need to buy one of these "Starter Packs" to get the gear I want?

No, no. Not at all -- that's the beauty of this system.

In-game, a player can earn Astral Diamonds from completing content (usually somewhat harder than normal quests, but not necessarily "1337"). No one 'needs to purchase Astral Diamonds... Ever. Play as as you' like and get everything desirable that way.

And please note that last sentence -- you can get everything you want by playing. Everything. This includes mounts, costumes, etc. Why? How? Because you can put your Astral Diamonds up on an auction house and sell them for micro-transactable points. Then you can purchase anything you'd like in our micro-transaction store. Committed players never need spend a dime in Neverwinter. Anyone can bankroll a hero just by playing.

In my experience with Cryptic and Perfect World Entertainment, each of their games contains something similar to the Astral Diamonds. In STO, it's Dilithium. This currency can be traded with other players for Zen, which is bought initially with cash. The Zen currency stores contain a lot of premium items that are fun, but aren't necessary game-breaking. PvP has always been such an afterthought by Cryptic, I would imagine that even though the Zen items will likely be unbalanced for PvP, I can't see a lot of people doing PvP to complain.

You can earn the game-specific currency (Dilithium, Astral Diamonds) by doing in-game repeatable quests and content, but if it's anything like STO, there will be a limit on the amount of Astral Diamonds one can earn in a 24 hour period. This is achieved in STO by giving players as much Dilithium Ore as the player can get, and then restricting the refinement of Dilithium Ore to Dilithium to 8,000 units per day.

Assuming the model will be similar (if it ain't broke, why fix it?) then I would say that the Astral Diamond gear will be good, but not as good as the Zen store stuff. The Astral Diamond store will likely contain some gear (easily replaced through leveling) and a fairly high number of consumables. The Astral Diamonds will also likely be a secondary currency needed for some in-game purchases. This is to prevent players from buying gold to get the best gear. Since you can get the Diamonds easily, it's just a matter of time.

I don't like the secondary currency system that Cryptic has used in the past, but it's what they're going with, so we should just accept it.

“Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply.”
- Steven Covey